I was curious about South Central PA as it relates to the communities of Chambersburg/Gettystburg/Harrisburg/Hanover/York/Red Lion/Lancaster?

Specifically I was curious

1) What is the loyalty/affilation of this region?
-Is it basically an exstention or part of the greater Baltimore region, given that is the nearest city and there are commuters?
-Or is this area more loyal to Philly, since it is the nearest in state town, or PIT, since most of PA is more culturally alike and loyal to PIT?

2) Which TV Stations/Newspaper do you get?
-Baltimore, Philly, PIT?

3) Which teams are covered locally?
-Baltimore, Philly, PIT, Mix?

4) In football, which is the most popular team in order, and by percent, if you can?
-Ravens/Redskins/Eagles/Steelers?

5) In baseball who is most popular or has a following?
-Orioles, Phillies, Pirates, Yankees in what order?

6) Hockey?
-Penguins, Flyers, Caps?

7) Do most people stay loyal to one market (root for PIT in all sports) or do many mix and match, is it common to see a Steelers fan be an Orioles fans or are they usually Pirates or nobody?

8) I heard this area has many Steeler fans.
-Why, because logistically it is only 55 miles to Baltimore and gets Baltimore TV, Radio stations.
-Further it is 110 miles to Philadelphia if people prefer in state, while almost double, 200 miles to Pittsburgh.
-You would think the Eagles and Ravens would split with the Steelers third.
-I'm curious how did the Steelers get that large a following in Central PA or do all PIT teams have a following, strong, there over Baltimore and Philly?
-In other words would the Steeler fan normally be a Buc and Pens fans in Central, PA.

9) Those people in the region who commute to Baltimore, are they usually Oriole and Raven fans with the locals in state being loyal to PIT?

10) How much does this vary based on the town?
-In other words does the loyalty vary if you live in Hanover/Red Lion/York/Lancaster, which are closer to Baltimore than say Harrisburg/Gettysburg/Chambersburg?

Thanks.

Dodt

11-18-2007, 12:17 AM

well for my area of hanover / new oxford , it all depends most of the people here grew up colts fans (one of the local bar's used to be called the colts coral but when the raven showed up it became the ravens roost .) so for some its ravens but there is a good fan base for the steelers (new oxford has two steelers bars the old mill , callahans).
locally we can get the sun , the philly paper , if you search around town you can find the washington post, and you can only get pittsburg papers on sundays at the news agency . tv stations fox 43 plays alot of eagles stuff (including the andy ried show.) , three baltimore stations (nbc ,abc, cbs.) comcast sports net(dc and baltimore coverage),fsn pittsburg,masn(dc and balitmore.).team loyality locally would go ravens ,steelers ,eagle and in the minority the skins.as for baseball it would go skankies , o's , phillies , nats and in dead last pirates. hockey fans seem far and few once in a while you might see someone wearing a pens or flyers hat/ jersey. its mixed market loyality i'm a o's ,steelers ,pens, and penn state fan. yes commuters are usually ravens / o's fans .

Mosca

11-18-2007, 01:32 AM

You might find it interesting that NEPA (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Hazleton) is predominantly Steelers country, then Eagles, with a smattering of Giants/Jets. The ethnic nature of the area is much like SEPA, the coalcracker mentality is close to that of steelworker, and it is hard to root for anything Philadelphia because the people who live there are so hateful towards their own teams.

Cape Cod Steel Head

11-18-2007, 10:23 AM

Speaking for York it's probably an even split between the Steelers and Ratbirds. Lancaster is mostly a Philly town. For baseball it's the O's. Not much of a hockey town.

doublewinder

11-19-2007, 11:28 PM

well for my area of hanover / new oxford , it all depends most of the people here grew up colts fans (one of the local bar's used to be called the colts coral but when the raven showed up it became the ravens roost .) so for some its ravens but there is a good fan base for the steelers (new oxford has two steelers bars the old mill , callahans).
locally we can get the sun , the philly paper , if you search around town you can find the washington post, and you can only get pittsburg papers on sundays at the news agency . tv stations fox 43 plays alot of eagles stuff (including the andy ried show.) , three baltimore stations (nbc ,abc, cbs.) comcast sports net(dc and baltimore coverage),fsn pittsburg,masn(dc and balitmore.).team loyality locally would go ravens ,steelers ,eagle and in the minority the skins.as for baseball it would go skankies , o's , phillies , nats and in dead last pirates. hockey fans seem far and few once in a while you might see someone wearing a pens or flyers hat/ jersey. its mixed market loyality i'm a o's ,steelers ,pens, and penn state fan. yes commuters are usually ravens / o's fans .

I'm curious, why is it in this region the Steelers would be more popular than the Eagles, and near the Ravens?
-I find this odd because Pittsburgh is the furthest of all three cities, whereas Baltimore is within commuting distance.
-In fact SCPA is in the BAL Metro region, so why would a team 200 miles away over the mountains have a strong hold?

-What I also don't understand, why is it that the Steelers have a strong prescene, but not the Pirates?
-I could understand, maybe, if SCPA had a strong loyalty towards in state teams.
-If that was the case though, then why is it just in football?
-Why wouldn't they have a strong prescene for the Pirates?
-It's not like the O's are in any good?
-Further, PIT and BAL are big rivals in football, I would find it hard to like to criss cross given those cities aren't friends.
-Why are you a Steeler/O's and not Steeler/Buc or Steeler/Raven fan?

doublewinder

11-19-2007, 11:35 PM

You might find it interesting that NEPA (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Hazleton) is predominantly Steelers country, then Eagles, with a smattering of Giants/Jets. The ethnic nature of the area is much like SEPA, the coalcracker mentality is close to that of steelworker, and it is hard to root for anything Philadelphia because the people who live there are so hateful towards their own teams.
Again I don't understand.

1) First did you mean to say NEPA is like SWPA not like SEPA, which is Philadelphia?

2) Why would people in NEPA be Steeler fans? This area of PA is within commuting distance of NY, in fact people commute to NY from here.
-I don't understand why they would root for a team 250 miles away when the Giants/Jets have been around for decades and are closer.
-Heck if you wanted in state the Eagles are closer.

3) Futher, again I do not understand, why is it people go for the Steelers in football?
-If they are so inclined to support the state team and identify with Pittsburgh culture, then why don't the Bucs and Pens have a similar strong prescene in NEPA area?
-I don't understand why it's just the Steelers who have a road following.
-If this people support the STeelers due to culture identiy then why not the other teams?
-Why is it you have so many Yankee fans?

-I saw the Steelers had many fans at the Meadowlands yesterday.
-OK, but why is it when the Pens are NY/NJ or the Bucs they don't have much of a prescene?
-The Devils always have seats available.
-I just don't get it, why it's just one sport.
-Is PIT and PIT fans just NFL fans?

4) Why is it this appears that in PA, once you get out of SEPA it becomes very much more PIT supported than PHI?
-I mean in WPA you don't have Eagle fans, do you?
-Why is it in many areas where PIT is much further than PHI you have so many PIT fans?
-Does PA in general outside of SEPA just dispise Phi or identify more with the culutre of PIT?
-If so, again why don't the Bucs or Pens then have a strong following?

Thanks.

Mosca

11-20-2007, 09:46 AM

Well, first, it's football. The second biggest team here is Penn State, the third biggest is Notre Dame. ALL of them are more popular than the Phillies or the Yankees.

We had the Phillies AAA team here until last year; now we have the Yankees AAA team. And our minor league hockey team is the Penguins' franchise. So our baseball fans tend toward those two teams, and our hockey fans generally are Pens fans or Flyers fans. (Side note: guess where the Flyers' minor league team plays. Give up? PHILADELPHIA!)

The Steelers have had a successful franchise for 35 years, along with a reputation for hard work and solid ethics that appeal to a wide range of blue collar people. All their games are broadcast here as well. I don't see why you think it's such a mystery. I'd be wondering why NOT root for the Steelers? Why not identify with a team that shares similar values to your own and is successful at it?